. . . . You make one indeed guilty of one of the
seven deadly sins (invidia) when you talk of summer weather: cloud, rain, fogs, dirt
such are the alternations of our genial sky--it is, this blessed paese a prison
& the worst of prisons--God only knows when I shall revisit my dolce nido, but I
sigh bitterly for it--this winter at Rome instead of here--I may not dream of such
bliss.--My great consolation here is music;
the music with Vincenzo & his friends provide me: I go to the chapel; [1]
I have been with Mrs. W. [Williams] to a concert that they have established
& I hear it at his house. He has made me a convert to Haydn--Do you know the
piece, "A New Created World"--in his
Creation; what a wonderful stream of sound it is; it puts me in mind of
those beautiful lines of Milton "Untwisting all the chains that tie The hidden soul
of harmony" [2] . . . .

NOTES

1. The Portuguese Embassy
Chapel, where Vincent Novello was organist and choir master.

. . .
Parliament is met here and Canning [1] is making a figure--he does not seem
at all to like the part he was forced to play with regard to Spain, & said in the House that he would not tacitly acquiesce in
such another invasion as that of the French at the risk of any war. They are
introducing some amelioration in the state of the slaves in some parts of the West
Indies--during the debate on the subject Canning paid a compliment to
Frankenstein in a manner sufficiently pleasing to me. The town however is
not full as yet, & the Winter is not begun--And although the Opera house is
crowded I have not seen there any of the first Grandees. . .
.

NOTE

1. George Canning (1770-1827), a British statesman who was
credited for his liberal policies while he served as Foreign Secretary, from 1822 to
1827. The Congress of Verona (October 1822) of the Quadruple Alliance gave France a
mandate to suppress the Spanish revolution begun in 1820 [. . . .] On 31 August 1823
the revolutionaries were defeated, and Ferdinand VII was restored to the Spanish
throne. Canning, however, had refused to cooperate with the other members of the
Alliance in this action, and this led to the dissolution of the Alliance. Canning
alluded to Frankenstein on 16 March 1824 (Great Britain, Hansard's
Parliamentary Debates, 2nd ser., 10 [1824], col.
1103]).

[MWS to
John Howard Payne, Sept. 27, 1825]

. . . I have also been for 10 days to
Windsor [1]--where I rambled to my old haunts. Windsor--Eton &c is the
only spot of English ground for which I have an affection. We were delighted each
morning too by hearing the King's band practise for an hour & a half--the finest
band in the world perhaps consisting of 44 wind instruments, whose effect is so much
finer than those scraping strings--In sacred pieces they rose to the majesty of an
organ--in lighter airs their
delicate execution seemed the work of fayry powers. The grand disappointment was
that I could not obtai[n] a sight of my liege Lord his Sacred Majesty--It was too
provoking--I prepared my best curls & smiles & curtsey & walked up Each
day to the castle with my companion vainly--The servants in waiting began to know us
& one old fat footman commiserated our fate mightily when we asked for the last
time whether his Majesty was expected & told him that it was our last chance--"I
am quite sorry, ladies--I am sure his majesty would have been glad to see you--he is
always glad to see & be seen by ladies."--What a flattering prospect--the while
thus we fished the object of our angling was seated calmly in a boat fishing for
less fish on Virginia
Water. [2]

Notes

1. Mary Shelley visited Windsor
area--where the Shelleys had lived from August 1815 through April 1816 [. . .]--to
gather details; she used Windsor as the setting for The Last
Man.

2. An artificial lake in Windsor Park, which covers about 160
acres.

[MWS to John Howard Payne, Jan. 28--(Feb. 7) 1826]

. . . In spring I
know not why one fancies change must necessarily ensue--& one looks forward to
it with a feeling of hope--Of themselves the breezes & fresh life is
exhilirating--every one looks more cheerful & smiling--they congregate like
swallows--it is {a} matter of wonder sometimes that our aristocrats leave their
delightful country residences just at the time when they are most delightful to
loose the bright May days in town pleasures--but I do not think I should like Paris
s[o] well as London or exchange my pretty suburb for the neighbourhood of the
Tuileries.

(feb. 7) I now her that William has got my book from Colburn[1]--& I
hope to learn today that he has sent it to you. The curiosity ex{c}ited by the title
frightens me, because of the disappointment that must of course follow. You can form
no idea of the difficulty of the subject--the necessity of making the scene {general
[deleted]} universal to all mankind and of combining this with a particular interest
which must constitute the novel--If I had at the commencement fore seen the
excessive trouble & then (much worse) the state of imperfection in which partly
for want of time I was obliged to leave it--I should never have had the courage to
begin. . . .

NOTE

1. Godwin, Journal, records that The Last
Man was published on 23 January 1826.